The Cheltenham-based ‘cool’ clothing group has confirmed that talks are underway with the Elliott Advisers-backed Bantry Bay Capital to help the refinance the £70m asset-backed facility that has to be completed in January.
Superdry (LON:SDRY) designs trend-setting affordable, premium quality clothing, accessories and footwear and its products are sold globally.
With some 695 branded stores, 220 physical stores and 475 franchisees and licensees, spanning 50 countries and employing some 4,000 people globally, the group has a strategy for delivering continued growth through its multi-channel approach that combines operating Stores, its Ecommerce sites, and through offering Wholesale.
The company has a declared mission “To be the #1 sustainable style destination” through its very distinct collections and defined by consumer style choices.
The group currently has an Asset Backed Lending Facility of up to £70m which is due to expire at the end of January 2023.
As of the end of October the group had only drawn down £45.3m of that facility, while current projections suggested the group would remain cash positive throughout most of the first half of the calendar year.
With the early October Final Results Statement the company reported that it had positive discussions with prospective lenders but had not yet secured committed funding beyond January.
Until those discussions conclude, the Directors stated that a material uncertainty exists around the going concern of the group, although they remained confident of a positive outcome.
Bantry Bay is a London-based specialist lender providing commercially-driven and creative debt capital solutions to corporates undergoing change.
The Elliott Advisors supported company focuses on asset-based financings, ranging from £10m to £100m+, for corporates underserved by the mainstream debt market, across a wide array of industries.
During the summer it was involved in a £60m facility out to Matalan, while it is said to be involved currently in discussions to fund some £35m to the Wilko retail chain.
The £104m capitalised Superdry group’s shares responded rapidly to the news with a heavily traded 4p rise to 130p.